This invention relates to a seal assembly for a rotating shaft and more particularly to a seal assembly for use with a heat exchanger of the type including a rotating shaft.
Shaft sealing is a problem whenever a rotating shaft is utilized in an assembly in which leakage along the shaft is detrimental to the environment in which the assembly is operating. For example, in a power plant utilizing a heat exchanger of the type including a large rotating wheel performing a heat exchange operation between hot combustion products leaving the boiler of the plant and cool incoming primary air being delivered to the boiler, it is critical to prevent the leakage of hot, dirty combustion products along the shaft of the wheel and into the general plant environment.
Many seal assemblies have been proposed for this purpose but these prior art seals have either been unduly complex and expensive and/or have failed to achieve a satisfactory seal.